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Jan 1, 1500
Elizabethan times
In the Elizabethan times the fashionable look was a bell. Females wore an armourlike corset made of iron to flatten their chest for a breastless look. -
17th century
In the seventeenth century, corsets became more like the corsets we recognise today. They known as ‘stays’ and were more usually made with whalebone rather than iron. Petticoat hoops and rolls fell out of favour giving the lower half of the body a more natural shape -
18th century
The skirts in 1700 where hooped but the hoops ere flat front and back to make a really wide shape from side to side.Women's ‘stays’ were tightly laced to draw the shoulders back and give a high, round bosom and upright posture -
19th Century
In the 19th century a more flowing and forgiving greek- silhouete was in fashion. This did not last long though and in Victorian times women pursued the ultimate hourglass shape. Women wore corsets to draw their waists in to unnaturally small sizes, which they emphasised with huge skirts -
20th century
n the early 1900s Edwardian corsetry was less harsh and with the introduction of the so called ‘health corset’ ladies no longer restricted a woman’s movements and breathing but a small waist was still the ideal. -
1910
In the 20th century, with more participation in sports, women started to become more active and athletic. This new interest in physical fitness introduced a slender shape as the female ideal and helped push the corset out of style -
1920
The slim ideal was central in the 1920’s, when fashionable women known as ‘flappers’ struggled for a thin, boyish figure with little or no curves. Undergarments included camisoles, panties, teddies, and bras that flattened the breasts for a more masculine look. -
The 1930
In the 1930's the women's sought a slightly curvier figure with a bigger bust but still wanted slim hips. Women of the 1930s brought the corset back, then called a ‘girdle’, which usually came with a bra and attached garters. -
Early 1940's
the women in the early 1940s had to find other forms of clothing because they had no access to nylon which was their main material so they painted their legs and drew a line up the back of them to give the illusion of wearing nylons with seams. -
Late 1940's
In the late 1940's with the return to a wealthier lifestyle after the war, curves were back in fashion! The return of the hourglass figure for women was influenced by a new girdle. Cinched waists (using waspies) and long, full skirts came back into style. -
1950s
In the 50’s women's undergarmentsbegan to emphasise the breasts instead of the waist. Bra cup sizing finally took on in Britain with 4 bra sizes A, B, C and D, (replacing previous descriptions like ‘junior’ and ‘medium’), allowing women of many sizes find a more comfortable fitting bra. -
1960's
In the sixties, everything changed yet again. The mini-skirt took fashion world by storm which meant the end of full fifties petticoats and the curves that went them. Because the mini-skirt was so ‘mini’ stockings could no longer be worn and were replaced by tights or bare legs -
1970's
In the 70’s a slightly more natural shape came in as petticoats and girdles became completely outdated and the ‘hippy’ lifestyle came into fashion. However, for mainstream society the look made fashionable for women was small hips and waist, but large breasts – meaning a good bra was essential. -
1980's
In the 80's it became popular for people to sculpt their bodies through ‘working out’. This was the ‘power’ decade when women were expected to diet and exercise to become thin and more muscular but still with curves in the ‘right places’. -
1990's
Weight loss becomes a multi-million pound industry. The other prevailing ideal is for women to be tall and slim but also with big boobs, a very rare body shape to occur naturally and extremely difficult to achieve -
2000+
For many women today, thinness is the ultimate body shape goal. Women resort to extreme and expensive measures including plastic surgery, gastric reductions and radical diets in their struggle to get skinny.
